For You
by serachanXatsuka
Summary: Their will lives on. The ultimate sacrifice of their friendship. The final gift for her beloved. Draco receives it all.


Draco held her as she laboured to keep breathing. Potter was behind him, lending him the support he denied but sorely needed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why now?" He had to ask, had to know why he was being punished during a moment that, long ago, would have made him jump in joy.

Potter moved to look outside the window, his back turned to the other two occupants of the room. "I couldn't. Despite our past Malfoy, I would never wish to bring this news to you. While I find myself asking why I'm doing this now, the only answer is that I didn't want to, because I wouldn't want you to waste her gift by reacting to the official statement of her death."

He finally faced them. His eyes were shining with unshed tears but he held them back. "She had asked me not to tell you but I thought you deserved to know. You deserved to know that she didn't really mean to leave you, to disappear the way she did. And you meant the world to her even before you got together, no matter how I tried to persuade her otherwise."

"How did this happen to her?" Draco asked, brushing away the few strands of her hair that had strayed onto her face. "Why to her?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "Do you remember during the final battle?" Draco nodded. Nobody who had lived through the final battle at Hogwarts, would ever forget. "While you were duelling against Crabbe and Goyle, Nott was trying to sneak up on you. Hermione saw this, and she knew you didn't know Nott was there. Nobody was close by so she did her best to get to you, and managed to intercept the spell Nott had sent your way. She didn't have the time to block it so she took the spell and fired a curse of her own to Nott."

"The spell Nott had tried to fire at you was very dark magic. It caused great illness to the recipient, slowly killing them with unimaginable pain, until that person becomes numb and falls into a deep sleep. Waking up only occasionally, the time between waking up getting longer and longer until they no longer wake up. No matter what I did could reverse the spell. And I watched as she fell in love with you and how, as each solution failed, her heart would break."

"I called you here because, for the last time, Hermione will be waking up. And as my last gift to her, I want to be able to give her enough time to say a few words to you." Harry had been unable to control his tears, despite his steady control. "And I hope that, when we leave, you'll be able to take care of my own son."

"Why are you leaving? You don't mean to say you're dying, too?" Draco asked, shocked.

Harry looked at him intently. "Hermione should have gone already a month ago, but I tied my magical core with hers. I wanted to at least clear up her name, in your heart. Since the curse had been on its final stage, it had consumed my core faster than I would have guessed. This is the last day that I am going to be able to do this." In answer to Draco's unasked question, he continued, "I have no regrets. My son, although very little, understands what I'm doing, what I've been doing. He has seen his aunt's suffering, and I would've liked to think this would make him proud of his father, for trying to give his aunt a second chance at something she never really got to have. Maybe someday, you'll be able to tell him, but for now, everything is as it should be."

"What about your friends? Won't they want to know?"

"They know." Harry said simply, smiling tearfully. "They know and have promised to keep quiet. Hermione's wishes will be respected." He sighed. "It's time. I wish I could tell you more. There are a lot of things I would've wanted to tell you but, you know what's funny? I think we would have been great friends, if the circumstances have been different." Harry wiped at his eyes, sat himself down just as his son came into the room. The boy had wriggled to his father's lap and embraced him, Harry returning the gesture and closing his eyes for the final time as he pushed his magic to his best friend.

Draco had wanted to look at what happened next but he suddenly became aware of the moving body in his arms.

"Hermione?"

She smiled. "Hi. Are you dead?"

Draco laughed. "Now that is a great question. But I'm afraid I'm not yet dead, dear. But I've heard of all the things you've done for me from the final battle."

"So Harry has told you, hasn't he? Where is he anyway?" She asked, looking around and seeing father and son as they sat on the plush chair. "Harry James Potter, you come here this instant!" She commanded.

Harry's son, who had his face pressed against his father's chest where his father had placed his head before passing away, looked at Hermione. Silent tears were falling from the boy's eyes but he managed a watery smile at his aunt, lifting one chubby hand and opening and closing it in a manner of a wave that only children knew. Then he buried himself against his father's chest again.

Realization dawned on Hermione and she heard sobs echo around the room before realizing it was her own. Draco only held her as she cried. "I... I thought... Ha–Harry had b-been able to f-find a cure."

"He wanted you to say your last goodbyes. He figured you had to talk to me before you managed to die." Draco's heart clenched. He had only just gotten to talk to her but he knew his time was only short. For all the things she had done for him, he knew the only thing he could do was let her know that she forgave him, and that she would take care of Harry's son since she wouldn't be able to do it for him.

He lifter her face to look at him. He lowered his lips gently on hers but pulled back quickly, afraid that if he dragged it much longer, he wouldn't be able to let her go. "Hermione, I know what happened now. You don't have to carry the burden anymore. I promise I'll take care of Potter's son for you since you won't be able to. And, after all this time, I wanted to finally say, I forgive you." He placed another kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you, Draco. Harry's son, his name is James Draco Potter. Take good care of him." She embraced him tightly, before he pulled back. She was no longer breathing. She had her eyes closed but she had the most peaceful smile he had ever seen, reflected only in Harry's own face. Somehow, her hands had formed as if she was trying to reach for something. Looking at Harry, it would seem that in death, the two best friends had wanted to support each other as they journeyed to the great unknown together, just as it had always been.

Draco looked at the two marble memorials of the two most dedicated and brilliant people he ever knew. Until death, they had managed to do a little more good for everybody. He was aware of James, looking at the epitaphs too. It was the least he could do, to immortalize what they had done for him and everybody else.

_Here lies Here lies_

_Hermione Granger Harry Potter_

_Friend, lover and aunt Friend, father and saviour_

_The brightest witch of her age The boy who lived to save the day_

_They sacrificed their lives for each other and for others, and did so with a smile_

_They will be remembered and sorely missed_

He had decided to bury them in adjacent plots of land, to rest by each other's side eternally, just as they had while living. They were the best of friends, and that was the greatest honor he knew would have been deeply appreciated. Inside his pocket, he felt for the letter that had been given to him upon the will reading of Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.

_Dear Draco,_

_ If you're reading this letter, then I guess everything went as planned. I have a little secret I want to tell you. All throughout my childhood, I had grown up being beaten by people I would've wanted to call my family. Before Hermione had succumbed to the curse, she and I worked on a project._

_ That project brought about the creation of my son. James, in every possible way, is me. Hermione had wanted to give me a chance at a second peaceful and happy childhood. She also thought that, to try to give you the things she would never be able to give anymore, my clone, my son would be brought up with you. I hope, for both of your sakes, you would be a family that would love and care for another._

_ And while my son carries all my memories, I hope this can also show you, how much I entrust my future in your hands. That is what I'm doing after all. He may be me, but from the day he passes on to your care, I hope he may one day be given the honor of being called your son._

_With all my gratitude,_

_ Harry James Potter_

_P.S. We, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, solemnly swear that we are up to no good. Semper. Always._

He kneeled to touch the two marble stones again before standing up. Losing them would be a difficult ordeal but he would make it. Because they had entrusted not only a new Harry's future with him, but Hermione's hopes and dreams too.

He held out his hand to James and together they left the graveyard at Godric's Hollow. Giving the graveyard one last glance, he whispered the Marauder's code, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."


End file.
